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THE ANNEXATION QUESTION. 



CLOSING ARGUMENT 



B. W. HARRIS, ESQ., 



KOR THE REMONSTRANTS AGAINST THE 



ANNEXATION OF DORCHESTER TO BOSTON, 



BEFORE THK 



COMMITTEE ON TOWNS OP THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE, 



TUESDAY EVENING, Willi •.'7, 1869. 



BOSTON: 

ROCKWELL AND ROLLINS, PRINTERS 

122 Washington street. 

1869 . 



THE ANNEXATION QUESTION. 



CLOSING ARGUMENT 



B. W. HARRIS, ESQ 



FOE THE REMONSTRANTS AGAINST THE 

ANNEXATION OF DORCHESTER TO BOSTON, 

BEFORE THE 

COMMITTEE ON TOWNS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE, 
TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 27, 1869. 



BOSTON: 
ROCKWELL AND ROLLINS, PRINTERS 

122 WASHINGTON STREET. 
1869. 



'06 









ARGUMENT. 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : — 

I had hoped to be allowed the privilege, after having made 
the arrangement, which is certainly not agreeable to any of 
us, to make the closing argument for the remonstrants in 
the evening, — I had hoped, I say, to be allowed the privi- 
lege of addressing a full committee. Circumstances seem 
to have interfered to prevent it, and I now enter upon the 
closing argument in the hope that, if I cannot reach each 
member of the committee here, there may be some other 
mode by which the facts which I present and call to their at- 
tention may reach them. 

I had not the privilege of being present at the first hear- 
ing in this case, nor of listening to the opening argu- 
ment of the learned counsel for the city of Boston ; and the 
gentleman who appeared here for the petitioners from the 
town of Dorchester made no opening. I am left, therefore, 
somewhat to conjecture as to what are the grounds — the 
main grounds — upon which they propose to rely in the 
closing argument. I am obliged to take the case as I find it, 
and to present those considerations which seem to me to 
bear directly upon the question. I may be obliged to tres- 
pass upon your time longer than I should be called upon to 
do, did I know the grounds really relied upon. 

Gentlemen, it is well for us to ask, in the very outs tart, 
what it is which is asked of this Legislature of Massachu- 
setts. What is asked? Upon the record, it is that 
the town of Dorchester be annexed to the city of Boston ; 



and upon the record, which is before us, this is all. But I am 
told that tin learned counsel for the city of Boston an- 
nounced in his opening that this was but an initiatory step 
towards annexing to the city of Boston a very large portion 
of the suburbs, including West Roxbury, Brookline, Brighton, 
and many other towns. You are not, therefore, merely to 
decide whether or not it is proper to annex the town of Dor- 
chester to the city of Boston, but you are to remember here 
that the step now proposed is but the first step in a process 
which is to extend the city of Boston and its jurisdiction 
over the strongest, or at least the wealthiest, portion of the 
Commonwealth. I call your attention to facts and to figures, 
that we maj r know precisely what is asked of this Legislature. 

The population of the county of Norfolk, by the census of 
1865, was 116,306. The population of the city of Roxbury, 
which has been taken away from the county of Norfolk, was 
28,426 ; and it is now proposed to take from that county 
the population of the town of Dorchester, — 10,717. These 
figures are from the census of 1865. The population, of 
course, has increased greatly since then. But it is proposed 
by the counsel who appears for the city of Boston to take 
next, West Roxbury, with a population of 6,912. Next, 
perhaps, — at least, ultimately, — Brookline, with a popula- 
tion of 5,262. These are the towns to be taken from the 
county of Norfolk and annexed to the city of Boston, and 
they reduce the population of the county from 116,306 to 
64,989. This, then, upon the single question of population. 

Now, sir, as to valuation. By the valuation of 1868, 
Norfolk county had $82,032,850 ; Dorchester, $15,326,300 ; 
Brookline, $14,870,700 ; and West Roxbury, $10,302,600 ; 
Thus $40,899,600 is to be deducted from a total valuation of 
$82,032,850. You reduce, then, the valuation of the county 
of Norfolk to $41,533,250, — a reduction of forty-nine and 
two-tenths per cent. 

But this is what was left of Norfolk county in May, 1868. 
You must remember that the city of Boston had already 



taken from the county of Norfolk, by the annexation of Rox- 
bury, a valuation of $26,551,000, as appears by the auditor's 
report of 1868. You therefore take from the valuation 
of Norfolk county, if you include Roxbury, $67,450,600, 
in an entire valuation of $108,583,850, and you reduce it 
sixty-one and seventy-five one-hundredths per cent. 

Mr. Train. — Are you right about that? 

Mr. Harris. — Precisely right. 

Mr. Train. — Your county valuation was made in 1868. 

Mr. Harris. — I ought to say that I have not been able to 
get the valuation of Roxbury for 1868, and I have taken its 
valuation for 1867. If there is any advantage in this, it is 
upon the side of the petitioners. I believe it has been in- 
creased some $2,000,000 by the valuation of 1868. 

So much for the effect of this measure upon the wealth and 
population of the county of Norfolk. Now, let us try the 
experiment upon the Commonwealth. I think I have taken 
the towns which are pretty likely to be annexed to the city 
of Boston,* if Dorchester is annexed. Roxbury has been 
taken. Dorchester is now asked for. In Brookline, agitation 
is already taking place on this subject, and it is announced 
here that it is to be taken. West Roxbury, Brighton, 
(because you must remember that Brighton lies within the 
embrace of the Charles and Neponset) ; Cambridge, in which 
agitation has existed upon this subject for some years ; Soui- 
erville, that is now knocking at the door of the Legislature, 
asking for the boon of annexation to the city of Boston ; 
Chelsea, in which, for aught I know, petitions are circulat- 
ing to-day, under the stimulus of this measure ; North 
Chelsea, Winthrop, and Charlestown, the annexation of 
which last has been a subject of consideration at this very 
session. By the census of 1865, and the valuation of May 
1st, 1868, these towns have a population of 328,247, and a 
valuation of $618,053,447, which it is proposed to unite 
under one municipal government. 

What is the relation which this population and this wealth 



bear to that of the whole Commonwealth? The population 
of Massachusetts, by the census of 1865, was 1,267,031. 
The valuation of May, 1868, was $1,220,498,039. By 
the union of these cities and towns, twenty-six per cent, 
of the entire population of the Commonwealth, according to 
the census of 1865, now increased to thirty per cent, by the 
natural growth of the suburban districts in advance of that of 
the country, and fifty per cent, and a slight fraction over of 
the entire wealth of the Commonwealth, Avill be handed over 
to the city of Boston. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the 
question was asked here a day or two ago, how much the 
County Commissioners of Norfolk were going to spend of the 
public money in meeting this issue? I have in passing only 
to say, that if the County Commissioners of Norfolk should 
sit by and see this dismemberment of the old county go on 
without resistance, they would meet the merited contempt and 
scorn of every citizen of the county who did not happen to 
be an annexationist. Their duty is plain, and they are here 
attempting to discharge that duty through myself as their 
humble instrument. 

"When the city of Roxbury was annexed to Boston, the 
distinguished gentleman at the head of the committee who 
reported the bill undertook to soften and mitigate the blow 
in his report to the Legislature by these words : " The 
county of Norfolk, of which Roxbury is a part, can suffer no 
real injury by the union. "With her territory joining the 
united cities, her prospect and advantage for rapid increase 
in the future will be equal to any county in the State." The 
chairman of that committee appears here to-day, asking that 
you further dismember the county of Norfolk by taking 
from it three of the largest and fairest towns, not only of the 
county, but I might almost say of the Commonwealth itself. 
These words imported a promise that, when Roxbury was 
taken, the fair prospect of Norfolk for future growth should 
be left untouched by the Legislature for a period at least of 
more than two years. 



Having seen what is asked by these petitioners, permit 
me for a few moments to inquire who ask it, and how it is 
asked. 

In the first place, the city of Boston asks it. No, sir, the 
City Council of Boston ask it. Mark you, sir, that not one 
single man in this whole great city of Boston, who is not an 
office-holder under it, has been before you, either by petition 
or in testimony, to say that there is any necessity on the 
part of Boston for this scheme of annexation. The City 
Council of Boston, — and the City Council of Boston are sup- 
posed to know what they want, and why they want it, — on 
the 10th day of December, 1868, deliberately and solemnly, 
in the presence, I have no doubt, of my brother Train, per- 
haps actuated and moved by him, aided and assisted by that 
" intelligent committee " of Dorchester, who stood behind and 
assisted him, passed this order, giving the reasons for annex- 
ation : — 

" Whereas, iu the opinion of the City Council, it has become necessary, 
in order to complete the systems of drainage and harbor improvements 
which have been devised for the benefit of Boston by the various com- 
missioners who have had and now have these subjects in charge, to 
annex a portion or the whole of the town of Dorchester to the city of 
Boston, — 

" Ordered, That His Honor the Mayor be requested to appoint a com- 
mission of three discreet and intelligent persons, who shall carefully 
examine the subject, in all its financial, industrial, and sanitary relations, 
cause such surveys to be made by the city surveyor, or under his direc- 
tion, as they may consider necessary, aud report the result of their 
doings, with such suggestions as they may think proper, to the city 
council, as soon as may be." 

I shall have the honor, before I close, to try the reason 
assigned in this order by the testimony. I say the City 
Council alone ; and we are not so familiar with the secrets 
of the City Hall as to know how this happened to ema- 
nate from the City Council of Boston at precisely this period. 
We know this, however : that the City Council has not been 
supported and sustained by the written petition of a single 
resident or citizen of Boston. 



8 

The petition from Boston is in accordance with this general 
order passed by the city government in April, 1866 : — 

". That whenever the City Council or Selectmen of any city or 
town, whose territory adjoins that of the city of Boston, shall notify the 
City Council of Boston, that in accordance with a vote of their respective 
bodies they are empowered to consult with the authorities of Boston with 
a view to the annexation to the city of Boston of their city or town, it 
shall be the duty of His Honor, the Mayor of Boston, to appoint three 
commissioners from the citizens of Boston to meet an equal number from 
the city or town making the request." 

I suppose the order which was adopted on the tenth of 
December, 1868, was in compliance with this general policy, 
that Boston shall take advantage of every apparent inclina- 
tion on the part of any city or town to become a part of this 
city, and reach out its arms, appoint its commissioners, and 
see if it cannot find some reason under heaven why it should 
come in and subject itself to the city government of Boston. 
But I will not dwell longer upon that subject. 

It is said that here are 860 names on the petition from 
the town of Dorchester. I have not counted them, but I 
believe the reckoning makes them fall short a little. Throw- 
ing off thirty-one names which happen to be written two or three 
times, and allowing for such inadvertent inaccuracies, which 
cannot but happen in such cases, you have about 829 names. 
The petition is labelled upon the back. "860 legal voters of 
the town of Dorchester."' We have shown that 233 of the 
names are not legal voters of the town of Dorchester. It is 
reduced, then, to 590. I will not undertake to be exactly 
accurate upon that point. 

Now, how were these names obtained, and what influenced 
the petition? Let us find out whether the 829 or 596 of the 
inhabitants of Dorchester, whose names appear on this peti- 
tion, so artfully worded, really desire annexation. TJ 
want the whole of Dorchester annexed, according to the peti- 
tion. The only word in capitals in the heading of that 
petition is the word "WHOLE." And why should such a peti- 



9 

tion come here? It is perfectly easy to explain it, sir. A 
line, which one of our humorous citizens of Dorchester has 
characterized as a " wheelbarrow line," was run through the 
town from the Roxbury line up to the centre of the town, 
setting the town-house upon one side, and the church upon 
the other, and running over to Granite Bridge. The people 
of Dorchester, remembering their glorious history, clinging 
to the associations of the past, loving the dear, good old 
town, immediately arose and cried out, "The whole or 
none ! " and that cry was echoed through every district, and 
every portion of the town of Dorchester. A hired messen- 
ger travelled through the town with a petition praying for 
the annexation of the WHOLE of Dorchester ; and he got 
829 names, 233 of which are neither voters, nor, so far as we 
know, residents. "The whole or none." "We have had here, 
to-day, gentlemen who say that they signed that petition 
upon the statement that that was its object. I would not un- 
dertake to say, Mr. Chairman, that there are not the names 
of a great many men upon that petition who desire annexa- 
tion ; but I do maintain that there are many, very many, 
there, who, upon the naked question of annexation, will say 
No! Let us, then, not give to that petition the weight 
which is claimed for it, but give to it just the weight, if we can, 
to which it is entitled. This was a canvass, mark you, Mr. 
Chairman, in which the person canvassing, says, "We don't 
want Dorchester divided; but if they are going to take a 
portion, let them take the wdiole ! " 

You must remember, too, that the impression had gone 
out, and become quite common in the community', that a por- 
tion of the town of Dorchester must be taken, on account of 
the demands for sanitary purposes of the city of Boston. 
Mr. A. A. Childs came here this morning, and told us he 
signed it because he believed that the city of Boston must 
have it for sanitary purposes, and he desired to benefit the 
city of Boston. He went to the town meeting, and heard the 
beautiful orations which were there delivered ; he heard the 
2 



10 

descriptions of the wharves lining the -whole shore from Mil- 
ton Lower Mills, along Dorchester Bay, clear round South 
Boston Point, and up to the Hartford & Erie Railroad station, 
which annexation is expected to create. We all know how 
much of fiction, and how little of real fact, " Oliver Optic " 
can put into any hook which he writes. Those of us who hap- 
pened to hear that oration know precisely how much of fiction, 
and how much of fact, was given on that occasion, to interest, 
amuse, and delight the audience assemhled in the town hall 
on that day. But Mr. Childs came away from the meeting, 
satisfied that nothing had been shown which indicated that 
Boston wanted any portion of the town of Dorchester for 
sanitary purposes ; and he comes here to-day, and tells you 
that he don't see any reason under heaven why Dorchester 
should be wanted by Boston. 

Now we come to another point, — the action of the town 
meeting. They say there were 544 voters in favor of annex- 
ation to 62 opposed. Mark you, again, the mode in which 
the matter is carried through the town meeting. Upon the 
question of appointing a committee to resist annexation, the 
vote stood two to one, — two opposed to the appointment of 
that committee, to one in favor of it. You may ask me, 
"Where are your remonstrants?" 1 say to you, even in 
that meeting, got up under circumstances so peculiar, — even 
in that meeting, upon a fair and square vote, one-third of 
the population resisted it. But Mr. Micah Dyer, Jr., with 
his accustomed shrewdness, gets up in the town meeting, and 
introduces this order : — 

"That the moderator of the meeting appoint a committee 
of fifteen to oppose any division of the town of Dorchester, 
and to advocate the annexation of the whole town to the city 
of Boston before the Legislature at its present session." 

Here we have it again : No division of the town! And on 
that vote, even Mr. Thomas Temple, an opponent of annexa- 
tion, among others, voted Yea. I say to you, Mr. Chairman 
and gentlemen, when you count upon 544 voters in that 



11 

meeting in favor of annexation, you mistake. The town of 
Dorchester has not had a full discussion of this matter. But 
I have a word to say about that town meeting. I do not 
wish to be severe upon anybody ; I do not mean to utter a 
word which may be considered personal. Bat I have had 
occasion in the course of this investigation to animadvert 
somewhat upon the conduct of the chairman of that meeting. 
It did seem to me that Mr. Upham, who was last year the 
chairman of the committee chosen to oppose annexation, 
but who happens to be, this year, a convert to annexation, — 
it did seem to me a little strange that under his management 
fair play could not have been a little better secured. It did 
seem, I thought, that, where a majority of the committee op- 
posed to annexation, of which he was chairman, had a writ- 
ten report ready to present to the meeting, Mr. Upham 
did not do quite the fair thing in reading a report signed by 
himself as chairman, and having it acted upon before the 
majority of the committee could get a chance to make it 
known that they had a report ready, and he the chairman of 
the meeting too. I thought then, and think now, he did not 
give the opponents of this measure quite a fair chance. But 
this is, after all, of very little consequence. 

This petition and this vote were very much influenced by 
the cry that had gone abroad in the town, and which had made 
an impression upon many people, "that a portion of the town 
must inevitably be surrendered to Boston for sanitary rea- 
sons." Whether that cry had any foundation in fact, we will 
see by and by. 

But how was that meeting constituted? Mr. Putnam, who 
runs a large nail factory, hires two four-horse wagons, and 
hires 42 voters to go and vote for annexation. My brother 
Train may object to the statement in that form, and I will 
state just what he did. He had 42 voters in his employ who 
would vote in favor of annexation, and he said, "Boys, I will 
pay you your wages, nothing shall be deducted from your day's 
labor, and I will pay your transportation up and back, if you 



12 

will go and vote for annexation ; " and they M r ent. It is a 
very easy way to carry a town meeting, if yon only have men 
enough in your employ. Now proper efforts to get out 
voters are perfectly legitimate. Nobody objects to them ; 
but when one wants a half-inch pipe from the water-works 
in Boston carried to his factory, for the purpose of sup- 
plying water for his steam-engine, it is not quite right to 
hire voters and. transport them to the polls, and then claim 
that a majority so obtained is indicative of public sentiment. 
I rather question the integrity of such efforts to get votes in 
a matter of this nature. 

Mr. Temple comes in here, and tells you that another ele- 
ment entered into this question ; that a certain portion of the 
community who believe in selling rum, under the excellent 
administration of Mr. Pope and Mr. Upham, while the old 
liquor law was in force, were obliged to shut up shop and 
take down their signs ; and in his neighborhood it was said 
by this class of people, "Let us go to Boston, and then the 
d — d State -constables can't reach us." How far that had 
any influence, I don't know. It may be that it did not influ- 
ence many votes ; but it seems to me that it is a matter for 
your consideration. 

1 make these comments that you may understand that all 
this show is not quite substantial ; that there is a little some- 
thing here which may well be scrutinized. 

Why, gentlemen, Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, a man of 
very general reputation in Massachusetts, who has stood 
up in Dorchester town meetings for forty years, or ought 
to have done so, was not known in that meeting, it is said. 
The}' did not respect his gray hairs, and they hissed him 
and hooted him, at first, although he came to speak on their 
own side. The} r w r ere not the substantial men of the town of 
Dorchester who came there to vote. Not that I would say 
that there were not many of the very best citizens of Dor- 
chester in that meeting ; the wealthiest, the most intelligent, 



13 

if you please, — men whom I highly respect, — advocating an- 
nexation ; but what I mean to say is, that there were some 
others there, new to the place, and influenced by other con- 
siderations than the welfare either of Dorchester or Boston. 
The meeting was noisy, and not such as we should expect in 
that town. Mr. Lorin<y comes and tells you that he could not 
be heard; that fair play could not be had. Dr. Jarviswas able 
to speak for a few minutes, and Mr. Drew was able to speak 
for half an hour or so ; but the rest of the time occupied by 
the opponents of annexation was very short ; while, on the 
other side, we had a splendid oration from our friend Oliver 
Optic ; we had an oration of a few moments from Mr. Mar- 
shall P. Wilder, after his own friends would let him speak ; 
and we had orations from other persons. 

There were several eloquent speeches, in which we had mag- 
nificent parks described, and all those tine things, that were 
to rise immediately upon the annexation to Boston ; and the 
people were carried away captive by the eloquence of these 
gentlemen, and they finally voted, 544 to G2, that upon their 
consciences they were opposed to any division of the town of 
Dorchester, — for that is the substance of the whole thing. 
There were in that meeting wealthy landholders, looking 
for a rise ; and poor laborers, looking for jobs ; the extremes 
met. 

I will say no more upon the subject of that meeting. I 
only ask you to consider that these petitions, whether from 
the city of Boston or the town of Dorchester, are not peti- 
tions and prayers representing, as they purport to do, the 
real sentiment of the community. They may to some extent 
represent, but they certainly are not the best indications of, 
the sentiment of the town of Dorchester. 

We had some altercation between the witnesses as to what 
took place at that town meeting. Mr. Loring thinks he was 
abused there, and that he has been abused, misrepresented, 
and entirely misunderstood here. Mr. Peirce came in here 



14 

to-day and said — and it was echoed by Mr. Clark — that 
Mr. Loring, upon that occasion, made a speech that people 
should laugh at ; that he shook a certain document at the 
people of the town, and told them if they knew what was in 
it, they would vote against annexation. I propose to show 
you, before I get through, what is in that document, — the 
Report of the Auditor of Boston, — for it may influence you, 
if it did not them. Mr. Loring is not a man to be silenced 
when he thinks he is right, here or there. He can point to as 
honorable a record as any witness who has appeared before 
you. It is as clean as that of any man who speaks against 
him. In integrity, in patriotism, in high honor, no man who 
has appeared here, upon either side of the question, is his 
superior. And many persons who have appeared here are 
of the very highest character and standing in the commu- 
nity. 

Mr. Chairman, it may be said, because it is an old argu- 
ment upon such occasions, that if annexation is not wanted by 
the town of Dorchester, there is no harm in reporting a bill. 
That may or may not be so ; but I apprehend I address a 
committee this evening who are not prepared to evade the 
responsibility which the Legislature has thrown upon them. 
You are not to leave a great question of State policy, a great 
question affecting the rights and interests of the people of the 
Commonwealth, to a town meeting, even in Dorchester. 
The responsibility is upon you, Mr. Chairman and gentle- 
men, to decide that there is here an emergency and a call for 
the act which is sought to be passed. That, I think, is all I 
need to say on this branch of the subject. 

Now, sir, coming nearer to the point in hand, what proof 
will you require before you will grant the prayer of the peti- 
tioners and give them a bill? I am aware that I am some- 
what out of place before a committee of the Legislature, and 
not exactly accustomed to the modes of procedure in such 
cases. I think some gentlemen upon the committee may 



15 

understand and appreciate my position. In a court of law, in 
a tribunal where evidence is admitted under settled rules, I 
should know better what would be required. I apprehend, 
however, that you will not make it widely different. In a case 
affecting so great interests as this, I think you will require of 
these petitioners, that they show by testimony, not by argu- 
ment, not by words outside of your chamber, not by insinua- 
tion or innuendo, not by mere figures of speech, that ^public 
necessity exists for the measure they ask for. Nothing less, 
it seems to me, ought to be required. 

SEWEHAGE. 

They have said — and it will figure somewhat in this 
case, I suppose — that some portion of the territory of Dor- 
chester is needed by the city of Boston for the purposes of 
sewerage. Let me advert briefly to the position which this 
subject occupies before you. Not a single witness, not one 
solitary witness has been called before you to prove that any 
necessity exists for the annexation of any portion of the terri- 
tory of Dorchester for the purposes of sewerage, either of 
Roxbury or Boston. Not only that, but we have the testi- 
mony on our part of Hon. Josiah Quincy, who came in this 
morning, and told you that every foot of land which is re- 
quired for sewerage purposes, lies now within the exclusive 
jurisdiction of the city of Boston. Neither my brother Train, 
nor his friend Mr. Bowerman, has dared to bring a man before 
this committee to show that there is, at present, any drain 
or sewer contemplated. Where is your city surveyor with 
his plans ? Where is the evidence that at any future time it 
will become necessary to drain through the territory of Dor- 
chester? Mr. Quincy doubts whether Stony Brook, in Rox- 
bury, can ever be successfully drained through the territory 
of Dorchester, so as to empty the sewerage of that city into 
Dorchester Bay. Not a word from my brother, not a word 
from the petitioners of Dorchester, not a syllable from any 
source upon the subject of drainage ! And yet that is the 



16 

theory upon which they started. They said they must have 
some portion of Dorchester, to carry out the great scheme 
of sewerage which the present and former commissioners h;id 
laid out. Let us see what the Board of Harbor Commission- 
ers say in the report annexed to this city document, No. 28, 
for the year 1869 : — 

" COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

" Harbor Commissioners' Office, City Hall, 

"Boston, Feb. 25, 1869. 

"Hon. Charles R. Train, Chairman Commissioners on the annexation of 
Dorchester to Boston : — 

"Sir, — The Board of Harbor Commissioners have the honor to make 
the following report upon the request of the Commissioners appointed by 
the Mayor of Boston to consider the subject of the annexation of a portion 
or the whole of the town of Dorchester to the city of Boston : — 

" Upon the general question of the expediency of enlarging the water front 
of the city, it iconld not be proper for this Board to express any opinion, as 
they have jurisdiction equally over the water fronts of Boston and Dorchester, 
and can take as efficient measures for the protection of navigation and the 
preservation of the harbor, whether the corporation limits are diminished or 
enlarged. 

" In regard to the matter of drainage, the Commissioners, desirous of 
furnishing such information as they could command, directed their engi- 
neer to examine into the subject of deflecting the drainage of Stony Brook 
from Charles River to Dorchester Bay. The results of his examinations 
have been communicated to the Board, as follows : — 

" The topography of the country, of which Stony Brook is the natural 
drain, does not admit of other relief for its water-shed, except at points 
near the mouth of said brook, at is confluence with Muddy River. 

" Between this general locality and the shores of Dorchester Bay the 
ground is low and level, and a drain or sewer carrying even a part of the 
flowage of Stony Brook, at times of freshet, would have to be of large 
capacity, and through expensive ground to occupy for this purpose. 

" The distance from the nearest point of Stony Brook, favorable for 
deflecting drainage, to the present nearest shore of Dorchester Bay, is 
about two miles, — 10,500 feet. 

" The distance from the same point to Charles River is about one and a 
quarter miles, — 6,500 feet. 

" The route most favorable and practical for a drain or sewer, turning Stony 
Brook into Dorchester Bay, passes just tangent to the toionship line of Dorches- 
ter, and is already within the limits of the city of Boston, near the head-icaters 



17 

of South Bay, and would not, therefore, involve questions of municipal in- 
terest. 

" The physical bearing of the drainage from Stony Brook is a question- 
able one. As a tributary to Charles River it is of value. Its volume, 
during a recent freshet was 400 cubic feet per second. The deposits from 
it as a sewer would be injurious; but its influences in comparison with 
the water volume of Charles River, or with its mud deposits, are of small 
proportion. 

" Respectfully submitted, 

"JOSIAH QUINCY, 

" Chairman Board of Harbor Commissioners" 

The very first page of the book opens with the pretence 
that something must be done to complete the system of drain- 
age, and that Dorchester territory is needed for that purpose ; 
and the last page gives an entire and complete refutation of 
the whole pretence. There is not to be found in the city of 
Boston a man who dares stand before the committee, and say 
that at present, or in the future, an inch of the territory of 
Dorchester is required for the purposes of sewerage. 

THE HARBORS AND RIVERS. 

Then comes the subject of harbor and river improvements, 
which was also put into that order. It is met in precisely the 
same way. It is sustained by precisely the same testimony. 
I do not know what was said in the opening ; I do not know 
what may be said in the closing ; but I know this, that I have 
a right to stand before a committee of the Legislature and 
demand that when a reason of that kind is pressed upon them 
it shall stand upon some proofs, from some source. Gentle- 
men, be not deceived by talk about river and harbor improve- 
ments, when His Honor the Mayor, when the learned counsel, 
himself a member of the City Government, when the Auditor, 
the two Assessors, and one Alderman, who have been here, 
have neither of them dared to open their lips upon the sub- 
ject of harbor and river improvements. It is met by Mr. 
Quincy, who upon that subject makes a reply, in the second 
paragraph of the report which I have just read, that is quite 
conclusive. 
3 



18 

I think I may now dismiss these two subjects, which made 
the substance of this order. The city of Boston started off with 
a pretence upon the subject of drainage and sewerage and har- 
bor and river improvements, which is openly abandoned before 
a committee of the Legislature. 

Now, sir, how stands the matter? A learned Commission 
was appointed. The old reasons were abandoned, some new ■ 
ones must be had, and the Commission sought to hunt them 
up. We will see whether they have succeeded. These two 
pet reasons are gone, and I shall not again advert to them di- 
rectly, although I ma}' have occasion incidentally to refer to 
them. 

HIGHWAYS AND STREETS. 

You will find in that report, and you will hear it outside of 
this room, if not here, that the city of Boston requires some of 
the territory of Dorchester for the purpose of extending its 
highways and streets into the country. The city of Boston 
wants jurisdiction over Dorchester for the purpose of making 
broader avenues. Very well. That is a statement which, if 
true, ought to receive the utmost consideration from this com- 
mittee. But, Mr. Chairman, no man has been brought here 
to say to you that there is a single street contemplated in the 
plans of any surveyor, or agitated before any board, whether 
of the city of Boston, or the city of Roxbury, or the county 
of Norfolk. There is not an avenue asked for or contem- 
plated from the territory of Boston into the territory of 
Dorchester, or even dreamed of in the imagination of the 
wildest of these annexationists. Oh, yes ! I do His Honor 
the Mayor great injustice. He did say, that some time in 
the far future it might become necessary to build a road 
from South Boston to Roxbury, and that a small piece of the 
territory of Dorchester would become desirable for that 
purpose. South Bay is unfilled; hundreds of acres, for 
aught 1 know, of unfilled land are now lying between South 
Boston and Roxbury, and yet possibly in the future there 



19 

may be a road built over that South Bay into Roxbury, or 
that vicinity ; and when that emergency comes, the County 
Commissioners of the caunty of Norfolk will do as they al- 
ways have done, open a highway for the people of the city 
of Boston, and see that it is properly built. 

Is there anything more upon the subject of highways? 
Have yon heard anything more in this room upon the subject 
of highways now needed ? The streets of Dorchester are as 
good as those of any other town in the Commonwealth. 
There is one broad avenue which you had the pleasure or 
discomfort of riding over, called Dorchester Avenue, upon 
which there is a vast amount of travel, no doubt, from 
Quincy, and those towns beyond, through which a horse- 
railroad passes, and it meets, and is a continuation of Fed- 
eral Street, in Boston. It is said that this street ought really 
to be in the hands of the city of Boston, because thej^ would 
spend $25,000 upon it. Well, I do not know but they 
would ; but, in passing down Federal Street, I have noticed 
that, at least, one-half, mile of the same road, extending from 
Dorchester line into the very heart of the city, is in a worse 
condition to-day than Dorchester Avenue ever has been in 
the past. Why not build up to your line, gentlemen of 
Boston, who are so anxious for a little more territory? Why 
not fill up your city ? Why not build and finish this street 
up to the Dorchester line ? Show them by contrast what they 
ought to do, and I assure you the people of Dorchester will 
do it. 

Is there anything else upon the subject of highways which 
ought to engage your attention, and which ought to be con- 
sidered by you as rendering the annexation of Dorchester to 
Boston necessary? I apprehend not, and, therefore, I dis- 
miss this branch of the subject. 

SCHOOLS. 

They say there is some little difficulty about schools. 
Upon the subject of schools I propose to put the town 



20 

of Dorchester in comparison with the city of Boston. I say 
that Boston does not do her duty in the education of the 
youth within her borders better than Dorchester, and I 
prove it by the report of the Board of Education. By that 
report, just published, it is shown that the amount appro- 
priated for each child, from five to fifteen years of age, is as 
follows : Brookline, the best town in the State, appropriates 
$29.82^. Boston stands the sixth municipality upon the list, 
and appropriates $17.71 T 9 . Dorchester, the seventh town in 
the State, appropriates $17.62 T 8 n . Upon this point, the city 
of Boston, with its immense wealth, is just nine cents and 
one mill ahead of the town of Dorchester. But this does not 
justly show the rank of Boston upon the subject of schools. 
Dorchester stands 113 upon the list of appropriations, — 
not the highest, but 113, — while Boston stands 30". I 
speak now of the appropriation as compared with the as- 
sessed wealth. Dorchester appropriates 3 T 7 mills per cent., 
and Boston 1 T V Now, sir, when the people of Dorchester 
assess themselves twice as much, according to their valua- 
tion, as the city of Boston does, for school purposes, as shown 
by public documents, I think it is an answer to those people 
who say that the schools of Dorchester are not what they 
should be. 

But I do not find fault with Boston in this particular. 
Boston is a magnificent city in all these respects. Boston 
stands at the head of the continent for liberality for all the 
purposes of education and charity, — stands, not only, per- 
haps, ahead of any other city of this country, but almost 
of the world. We love to praise and applaud Boston ; but 
it is the happiness of the people of Dorchester to be able to 
point to a record upon this subject quite as fair, quite as 
brilliant and honorable. 

Upon the score of attendance on the public schools, Dor- 
chester stands 98 upon the list, and her attendance is 82 : 
51 per cent. Boston stands 222, — away down the list, — 
with an attendance of 72. 28 per cent. 



21 

Boston has .appropriated for the school buildings of the 
city one-half of one per cent., and Dorchester nine-tenths 
of one per cent., upon its valuation. You saw, Mr. Chair- 
man, away out in the woods, at Matapan, one of those 
new school-houses, just erected by the liberality of the 
town of Dorchester. I have no doubt it attracted your at- 
tention. Away out there in the woods you saw a new 
school-house just finished, at an expense of from $30,000 to 
$40,000. And yet, some gentlemen speak lightly about the 
schools of Dorchester ! They would like the advantages of 
the Boston Latin School. Yes, and Mr. May, Chairman of 
the School Committee of Dorchester, an honorable, upright, 
and high-minded man, talks a little about the Latin 
School ; and yet, out there in town meeting the other day, he 
got up and urged an appropriation of $50,000 for a High 
School in Dorchester, — a school where the Latin language, and 
the Greek language, and all the modern languages are to 
be taught ; and he urged it upon the people of Dorchester 
upon this ground, that if they were annexed to Boston, they 
might not be able to get that school, or a branch of the Latin 
School, but if they built it now they would have it. And the 
town voted it, — $50,000 for a High School in Dorchester, — 
as he desired, and as they ought. 

POLICE. 

Some of our fanciful and imaginative friends have talked 
about the police S3^stem of the town of Dorchester. Air. 
Upham is extremely anxious to have the police system of 
Boston. He has been chairman of the Board of Selectmen 
for six or seven years, and $1,700 are the highest figures 
ever reached for the police. When Mr. Pope and himself 
were enforcing the liquor law in the town of Dorchester 
(and I can bear testimony to their efficiency and faithfulness 
in that regard) , they closed the hotels and the rum-shops at an 
expense of only $700. 380 warrants were issued in two years 
and a half by the chief magistrate of that region, as I may 



22 

c.ill him, for there is nobody else who undertakes to act in 
that capacity but Mr. Temple, — including all that came 
from Randolph and other portions of the Commonwealth. 
The police record of the town of Dorchester will not half 
equal in the number of arrests that of the town of Randolph, 
a little further back in the country. Police force indeed ! 
$8,000 appropriated this very year for a police force in the 
town of Dorchester, where they never spent $2,000 a year!. 
We seldom hear of a robbery or burglary out in Dor- 
chester. It is a quiet, peaceful, and orderly town, as every- 
body must admit. Yet Mr. Upham thinks, upon the whole, 
he would like a little more police. He is ambitious to 
come in under the direction of the Boston police. It may 
be a matter of taste with him. I differ in taste. Perhaps, 
sir, this is all it is best to say upon the police system of 
Boston, until the Legislature get through with the subject. 

Mr. Mears comes in and tells us they had a riot in 
Neponset some five or six years ago, and wanted more 
policemen, and they sent into Boston and got forty-five. 
They say Mr. Putnam's men refused to work without an 
increase of wages ; they wanted ninepence or a shilling more, 
and wouldn't work. They got together, had a band of 
music, paraded through the streets, and had a good deal of 
fun, and refused to go to work for Mr. Putnam until he 
would give them higher wages. Mr. Putnam and his friends 
wanted to find some law by wdiich these men could be com- 
pelled to go to work, and they rushed into Boston and got 
forty-five policemen, took them out there, and they arrested 
twelve of the men, and brought them up before the Superior 
Court of the county of Norfolk ; but they were all discharged 
because they had committed no crime. The Dorchester 
police knew what crime was, and they made a discrimina- 
tion. They knew enough to know that they had no business 
to arrest a man who struck for higher wages. That is the 
substance and whole amount of his testimony. There was 
disturbance and noise; there were some things done which 



23 

nobody would countenance or approve ; but are you pre- 
pared to say, gentleman, that, because Mr. Putnam could 
not keep his workmen at his own price, the town of Dor- 
chester shall be annihilated? 

SIDEWALKS. 

Something has been said about sidewalks. I have not 
.much to say about that, for I do not believe that the fact 
that the people out in Dorchester want to build sidewalks 
and pay for them, as the people of Boston do, is any good 
reason for annexation. But if you will look at Chap. 48 of 
the General Statutes, you will find that the town authorities 
of Dorchester have a right to lay out sidewalks and assess 
one-half the cost upon the abutter. The city of Boston 
makes the landholder pay half the cost of his sidewalk. 
Gentlemen, the same thing can be done in Dorchester. The 
fact is, the people of Dorchester have been misled into 
believing that, if they can only get annexed to Boston, the 
city wall give them streets and sidewalks, and not charge 
them a cent. But the law of the Commonwealth is quite 
the reverse. They will have to pay precisely as they do in 
Boston. 

SURFACE DRAINAGE. 

Hard pushed for reasons in favor of annexation, Mr. 
Upham at last finds one which satisfies him. He has seen 
Judge Leland ! It also occurs to him that a little surface 
drainage is needed in Dorchester. 

Gentlemen, where is there any surface drainage needed 
which the town of Dorchester cannot furnish? Mr. J. H. 
Robinson, a gentleman who is an annexationist, was called 
by me, you remember. He has a little land lying down upon 
the Roxbury line, where the bottom is solid rock. It is just 
a little over the line, and he has got it pretty clearly in 
his head, — and I justify him entirely, — that if Dorches- 
ter was annexed to Boston, possibly there might be water 



24 

enough in the reservoir on Chestnut Hill to enable Boston to 
extend a pipe out over his rocky bottom and give him water, 
and save him the expense of wells. He thinks, in that par- 
ticular, annexation would be a blessing to him ; he says so. 
I agree with him. I have no doubt about it. But what 
does Mr. Robinson tell us with regard to the drainage of 
Dorchester? He tells us that Dorchester can take care of 
herself. She has no surface drainage which she cannot 
well provide for. It is hill and dale : it is not a flat coun- 
try ; it is a well-drained town ; it has plenty of water, 
except in one or two places ; and, like a fair and honest man, 
he comes up here and tells us, that, though opposed to us for 
certain reasons of the pocket, yet all this talk about surface 
drainage, in his judgment, is foolish and absurd. I am very 
much obliged to Mr. J. H. Robinson. I think he appears 
very well in contrast with our friend, the chairman. 

BOSTON WANTS ROOM. 

But, Mr. Chairman and gentleman, there are, it is claimed, 
other and graver reasons, why Dorchester should surrender 
her corporate existence, and become a part of the city of 
Boston. " Boston wants room ; Boston has not room for her 
middle classes ; Boston should be allowed to extend into the 
country, to find cheap land for her people ; Boston is full." 
Two years ago Boston was full, and you took 1,500 acres of 
unoccupied land in Roxbury to supply the demand. Boston 
is full again, and she will be full, just as long as there is an 
acre of land outside of her that her avaricious eyes may 
covet. Boston, it is said, must have room to extend ; and 
we have had some evidence that the people on Fort Hill, — 
185 families, 3,000 people, — and in Church Street, — 867 
families, 3,520 people, — have got to move. No suggestion is 
made, and so I make it, that Fort Hill is only being cut down, 
and Church Street is only being raised up, and that the terri- 
tory is precisely the same as before. But they say Fort Hill 
is to be used for warehouses. Church Street is not to be 



25 

used for warehouses for the present generation, but it is to 
be occupied by respectable men of the middle class until the 
property rises, as it may in the future, so high that it 
must be used for more expensive buildings. The Lowe.ll 
depot is to be changed, they say, and 719 families, 3,043 
people, are to be driven out of that territory. They want 
to colonize these people, I suppose, in the town of Dorches- 
ter. An enviable and most desirable colony would undoubt- 
edly migrate from Fort Hill into the beautiful suburbs of 
Dorchester ; they would cluster around that grand park of 
800 acres, of which I doubt not we shall have a poetic de- 
scription from my brother Train, because we know he has a 
fine and vivid imagination. But what are the facts? Do not 
let us be deceived upon a question of this magnitude. When 
the annexation of the city of Roxbury was upon the carpet, 
the city of Boston found it necessary to call for some infor- 
mation from the President of the Water Board, and he made 
a report, which is dated "City Hall, Feb. 18, 1867." You 
may have seen it, Mr. Chairman, but I beg leave to read a 
portion of it, because it is something which I think the city 
of Boston cannot controvert, and will not attempt to here. 
They talk about the want of vacant land ; but they have not 
put a witness on the stand who has sworn that there was not 
vacant land in Boston. East Boston has it, South Boston 
has it, the Back Bay lands are unfilled, and there are un- 
occupied flats all around us, capable of increasing, to a large 
extent, the available territory within the city. But, gentle- 
men, I have the figures : — 

The area of Boston proper (not including streets) is about . . 970 acres. 

Of this there are built upon and improved about 630 " 

Leaving of available unimproved laud about 340 " 

The filled area of East Boston (not including streets and 

squares) is about 660 " 

Of this there are built upon and improved about 170 " 

"But," says some gentleman, "East Boston has no ferry; 
East Boston has no bridge." Yes, but when we go to 
4 



26 

New York, and look across the river to Brooklyn, we see 
thousands of boats, almost, plying between the two cities, 
transporting thousands and tens of thousands of people 
from New York to that beautiful city across the water. 
Ferries are there, — and why ? Simply because the population 
of New York is so great that they need an outlet, and they 
have ferries, and sustain them; and when Boston is full, you 
will find no difficulty of communication between East Boston 
and the city. When Boston is really full, there will be no 
490 acres of that fine island unoccupied. 

Besides this there are of flats wholly unimproved 440 acres. 

And of flats already enclosed 103 " 

Making a total, ultimately available of 1,033 " 

The President of the Water Board puts in here Breed's 
Island, 720 acres, which I leave out of my calculation, al- 
though he says it is to be ultimately occupied. 

The filled area of South Boston (not including streets and 

squares) is about . 675 acres. 

Of this, there are built upon and improved 285 " 

Leaving of available unimproved land 390 " 

I am not overstating it, therefore, when I say that South 
Boston itself is not half full. 

The area of the flats on the northerly shore, which may be 
added, is about 600 acres. 

The Commonwealth is now moving to fill up these flats, 
and I believe the only question is, whether it will do to fill 
them now, lest they get more land than can be sold. 

The area of Roxbury (not including streets and squares) 

is about 2,184 acres. 

Of this, there are built upon or improved 684 " 

Leaving of available unimproved land about 1,500 " 

"The foregoing estimate of the area built upon is, of 
course, very rough ; for in cases where, to a single house, 
there appear upon the map to be several acres, there has 



27 

been allowed to such isolated house a half acre as improved 
land, calling the balance unimproved. 

" Besides the above 1,500 acres, there are of marsh land or 
flats, to be improved, 300 acres, making a total of 1,800 
acres " of available unimproved land in Roxbury. 

By this report Boston had, after annexing Roxbury : — 

In Boston proper improved 630 acres, unimproved 340 acres. 
East Boston " 170 " " 1,033 " 

South Boston, " 285 " " 990 " 

Roxbury, " 684 " " 1,800 " 

Total " 1,769 " " 4,163 " 

Of the unimproved 2,720 acres is upland, and 1,443 is marsh or flats. 

This report was signed by John H. Thorndike, the Presi- 
dent of the Cochituate Water Board, and he adds this re- 
mark : — 

"When the whole territory within the present limits of 
Boston is peopled as densely as the portions now built upon, 
our population will amount to near 600,000. 

"The present population of Roxbury is said to be about 
30,000, and the rate of increase, for the ten years from 1855 
to 1865, was nearly fifty-four per cent. ; and, upon the same 
basis that Boston can accommodate 600,000, Roxbury can 
accommodate about 400,000." 

They talk about the increase of Roxbury resulting from 
annexation ; but we find by the best authority, — the census, 
which is quoted here, — that the increase of Roxbury, in 
population, for ten years preceding annexation, was fifty-four 
per cent., Avhile that of Boston was a little over twenty-eight 
per cent. 

Now, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the city of Boston 
has, to-day, territory sufficient to afford ample accommodations 
for 1,000,000 of people ; and she has to-day, including Rox- 
bury, but 240,000. 

Gentlemen may say that this land is not all filled, that it 
is not all adapted to building purposes, or for dwellings. In 



28 

answer to that, I have to say, that when a great city be- 
comes crowded, she will not leave her unoccupied territory 
without the necessary improvements for the accommodation 
of her people. The Back Bay is an example. 

I have a word to say with reference to this question of 
expansion. Gentlemen seem to have the idea that it is 
necessary for Boston to engross within herself the growth of 
the Commonwealth. . It seems to be considered, for some 
reason, 1 know not what [it has figured on the reports, it is 
hinted here] , that it is necessary for Boston to control the 
people who now reside within her limits, and also the 
growth of the Commonwealth, which happens to centre 
near her borders. Why ? is the question ; and you will find 
no answer. Is the growth of the Commonwealth, in wealth 
or population, one dollar or one person less, because people 
happen. to live upon the hill-sides of Dorchester as a separate 
municipality ? Is the population of the State one single per- 
son less than it would be if Boston extended her arm of pro- 
tection around those citizens? 

I have said that the same plea was made before this Legis- 
lature, in 1867, in reference to the annexation of Roxbury; 
and it is claimed that the results of the annexation of Rox- 
bury have been such that this committee ought to be satis- 
fied that it is for the interests of Dorchester to be annexed 
also. But that experiment has not been fully tried. The 
experiment may work well ; but we say that the city of 
Roxbury, at the time, extended its arm across the neck, and 
joined hands with the city of Boston. They were really 
interwoven as one city. There were no natural boundaries 
between them. Washington Street extended entirely through 
both cities. There is an entire difference between that terri- 
tory and Dorchester. That annexation was advantageous to 
Roxbury I do not deny, for I do not know ; but the reason 
that applied in the case of Roxbury will fail utterly when 
applied to Dorchester. 



29 



FOREIGN INFLUENCE. 



" But," says some witness, " we must be saved from the 
foreign element!" "The country," saj^s Mr. Crane, "must 
come in and save the city. We must be saved from foreign 
influence." Let us see how he is going to succeed by the 
method of annexation. 

We turn to the census of 1865, and we find that the whole 
population of Boston was 192,318, and her foreign popula- 
tion, 65,886, or thirty-four and twenty-five hundredths per 
cent. They annexed Roxbury, with a population of 28,426, 
and 9,604 foreigners, and they got thirty-four and thirty -five 
hundredths per cent, of the foreign element. That did not 
reduce it natch. That is not the little leaven that leavens 
the whole lump. Now. they propose to take Dorchester 
which has a foreign element of twenty-one and sixty-eight 
hundredths per cent. ; we put Dorchester and the two cities 
together, and we produce this wonderfully satisfactory re- 
sult : we reduce the foreign element, in this combined city 
of three separate municipalities, from thirty-four and thirty- 
five hundredths per cent, to thirty-three and sixty-five hun- 
dredths per cent., — a fact which perhaps you will be content 
to take as of some consequence when th.ey talk about saving 
Boston from the foreign element. 

Now I will take the territory which my brother Train in- 
tends to get into the city of Boston, and we will see how per- 
fectly he will neutralize the foreign element. He has Rox- 
bury, with thirty-four and thirty-five hundredths per cent, 
of foreign population ; he wants to take Dorchester, with 
twenty-one and sixty-eight hundredths percent. ; Brookline, 
with thirty-two per cent. ; West Roxbury, with twenty-seven 
per cent. ; Brighton, with twenty-six per cent. ; Cambridge, 
with twenty-eight per cent. ; Charlestown, with twenty-three 
per cent. ; Somerville, with twenty-four per cent. ; Chelsea, 
with twenty per cent. ; North Chelsea, with sixteen percent. ; 
and Winthrop, with twenty-seven per cent. I tell you, Mr. 



30 

Chairman, you have got to take a large slice of the Common- 
wealth to reduce the foreign element very much, especially 
when you select a portion of the Commonwealth that is 
almost as densely populated with foreigners as Boston itself. 

One thing more, gentlemen, in regard to the middling 
classes. It is said we must keep the middling classes in 
Boston. By the census of May 1st, 1867, taken by the 
authorities of the city of Boston before the annexation of 
Roxbury, it appears that there were 19,000 dwelling-houses 
in the city of Boston. Of this number, 14,000 were of a 
value less than $7,000, and the greater portion between 1,000 
and 3,000 dollars in value. It is said the middling classes 
will move out into the country, and yet you have only about 
5,000 dwelling-houses in Boston owned, at least occupied, 
by the wealthy classes. I think this proves that there is some 
fallacy in these statements which are thrown round in the 
community to influence those persons who have not reflected 
on the subject. 

In the report of these able Commissioners, — and I sup- 
pose my brother Train will not be offended if I also refer to 
the intelligent committee of the citizens of Dorchester, who 
had some interest in getting up that report, — they say, " The 
money invested in building up compact villages in the near 
suburbs should be applied within the limits of the city, thus 
retaining the population and wealth now lost, and adding to 
its character, wealth, numbers, and virtue." They say this 
capital ought to be kept in the city. How are you going to 
do it? By reaching out and taking in all the country around. 
That keeps the people in the city itself; but is there any 
change in population, so far as the Commonwealth is con- 
cerned? "But," says Mr. Crane, or somebody else, " a man 
wants to vote where he lives, and live where he votes." If 
you apply that rule, you will have to extend the limits of 
Boston into all those fair towns within a radius of twenty- 
five miles of Boston. 

It is said that Boston is now growing towards the south ; 



31 

/ 

that the tendency of growth is in that direction. I deny the 

proposition. It is a fallacy. Boston grows within her own 
limits towards her southern border, and why ? Because there 
is cheap, unoccupied land. South Boston is not half occu- . 
pied. Washington Village is in its embryo state, with much 
vacant land. The city of Boston, within the last three years, 
has simply changed the centre of her business. She is grow- 
ing, within her own limits, towards the south ; but let us see 
whether or not the town of Dorchester has been growing 
more rapidly than other regions around Boston. I deny the 
proposition that the tendency is into the country south of 
the city. I admit that the growth of Boston is in the direc- 
tion of the Back Bay ; but it- is because the city is filling up 
her own territory, within her own limits. She has not 
"slopped over" very badly, as yet, into the town of Dorches- 
ter. In Somerville, there were built, in 1867 and 1868, 600 
dwelling-houses. In Cambridge, last year, there were erected 
595 buildings, mostly houses. A late paper reports 500 
transactions in real estate in Newton in 1868. The little 
town of Winchester, eight miles from Boston, has increased 
its population, in 1867 and 1868, from 466 polls to 630 
polls, — an increase of between thirty and forty per cent. ; 
showing, Mr. Chairman, that the growth outside of Boston 
is not confined to the southern side, but extends everywhere. 
It extends all around us ; it extends wherever facilities are 
offered for travel, for the comforts of home, for the education 
of children, and where the country is healthful and agreeable. 
It is not, then, as has been stated, tending more outwards 
towards the south than it is outwards to the north or to the 
west. 

Lest I weary the committee with these details, I must 
hasten forward to other matters. 

It has been said here that the people would not leave the 
city of Boston if they could get cheap land within its limits. 
Well, sir, all I know about that is, that there is a good deal 
of pretty cheap land in Boston. It is within reach, very ac- 



32 

cessible, and yet the people of Boston do not build on it, 
but they go ten miles beyond, and build up the beautiful, 
thriving towns throughout the Commonwealth ; why should 
they uot? 

But, say this learned Commission, we should retain the 
capital which now goes in millions to build up Chicago and 
New York and the great cities of the West ; we should keep 
it here. Let us have their precise words, because the 
announcement is very remarkable, and to me exceedingly 
'interesting : " The amount of Boston capital invested in real 
estate in the cities of New York and Chicago, not to mention 
numerous other localities, is estimated to reach millions of 
dollars. This capital should be employed here, but will not 
be, so long as Boston maintains its present contracted limits." 
No ; nor while grass grows, or water runs. The wealth 
which has built up Lowell and Lawrence, the wealth which 
opens the mines of Pennsylvania and the mines of Colorado, 
should be employed here, in building up Washington Village 
and Dorchester ! It is not right that this wealth should 
go out and build up there faster than it could here ! I say, 
Mr. Chairman and gentleman, that every man in Massachu- 
setts ought to be proud that it is so. Better that it should 
go out to build up cities and towns, to open ways of com- 
munication across the continent, than that it should be re- 
tained here to build up a single city. Better for the honor 
and fame of Boston and Massachusetts, that Boston should 
send her capital forth to civilize, enlighten, and educate the 
world than that she should sit supreme upon a few hills, and 
reign over a single port. If there is anything of which Mas- 
sachusetts is proud, it is of the influence which has gone from 
her through the continent, elevating races, building up cities 
and towns, and spreading the institutions of religion and 
learning. 

There are some minor considerations which, perhaps, I 
may pass over with a comment or two. 

You are told the post-office facilities out in Dorchester are 



33 

not in all respects what they should be ; but I apprehend you 
will not destroy the town of Dorchester to give my friend 
Pierce here a penny-post to his chocolate mills ; and I don't 
believe he would ask it. 

Then the town house is too small, or the town meeting is 
too large. That is a matter of very little consequence, for 
the people of Dorchester can have just such a town house as 
they please. 

But something has been said about the water front. Will 
annexation, Mr, Chairman, make commerce upon a water 
front which has been a failure for a hundred years ? Will it 
make Dorchester a great port of entry ? Will it call into 
requisition any portion of Neponset River ? Will it build up 
Dorchester Bay? Annexation, pure and simple? What has 
the city of Boston to do with all these enterprises? It is 
private enterprise, private capital, influenced and stimulated 
by the demands of commerce, which should build up these 
sea-walls, and docks, and wharves, all along from Neponset 
River to South Boston Point. It is not annexation, but pri- 
vate enterprise, stimulated by the demands of commerce. 

I leave this subject, gentlemen, as a humbug, and one 
which has no foundation, and no reality whatsoever. 

COMMERCE. 

I come now to another point, which is of some consequence 
in the consideration of this matter, — the commerce of Bos- 
ton. It is said annexation is to increase the commerce of 
Boston, and improve her commercial position. I deny that 
proposition, and call for proof. Does the commerce of Bos- 
ton depend upon the ability of the people, who happen to 
reside within a certain limited circle, to consume the commodi- 
ties with which commerce deals ? Is that what makes com- 
merce flourish? Does the commerce of Boston depend upon 
so frail a staff as the contributions of Massachusetts alone? 
California has more to do with the commerce of the city of 
Boston, than three-quarters, yes, than all the towns in the 
5 



34 

Commonwealth. Cold .and frigid Alaska has much more to 
promise the commerce of Boston than a dozen Dorchesters. 
The commerce of Boston is dependent for its prosperity upon 
the business of the broad continent, and it cannot be that 
annexation will have the slightest influence. 

How stands the commerce of Boston to-day? It is said 
that this measure will increase the commercial facilities of 
Boston. I beg leave to call upon Mr. Loring, who has testi- 
fied upon this subject with a fairness and candor which have 
not been surpassed by anybody Avho has testified upon either 
side. He tells you that at East Boston there is room and to 
spare for the commerce of the city ; that the wharves do not 
pay interest; that his own wharves lie languishing. East 
Boston looks across the water, and begs for that flow of pop- 
ulation and that flow of commerce which is to build her up. 
Her buildings stand unoccupied ; her wharves do not pay 
dividends. Go up to Charlestown ; go around all the sinu- 
osities of the harbor, and 'you will find that the wharves 
which, in years gone by, paid the best interest, are now 
either silent and utterly unoccupied, or partially so. Mr. 
Loring tells us that the commercial facilities of Boston to-day 
are greater by far than the wants of Boston can be for many 
years to come, judging from her present growth. I think 
there is nobody here to controvert that testimony ; and Mr. 
Crane came to the aid of Mr. Loring, for he testified that the 
commerce of Boston was not equal to the facilities for com- 
merce which Boston possessed. How, then, about those 
magnificent structures at those remote points, the Lord knows 
where, away out by Mr. Preston's chocolate mill? Annexa- 
tion to change it ! It is true that the same amount of busi- 
ness may be done now at the wharves of Boston in much less 
space than the same business could have been done in years 
ago, by reason of the better facilities for loading and unload- 
ing, and the use of steamboats and vessels of larger tonnage 
than formerly. 

But, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, when we are told that 



35 

something must be done to increase the commerce and com- 
mercial position of Boston, let us look it squarely in the face, 
and sec if annexation is the remedy. No, gentlemen, I know- 
it is not, and you know it is not. I have referred to the 
testimony of Mr. Crane. I admire Mr. Crane. He is a 
man who ought to be encouraged and maintained. He 
is a man of progress. He is a man of ideas, lie is one 
of the men who help to advance the civilization of the 
world. But 1 submit to you that his flights were exceedingly 
high. He occasionally lights upon the solid earth, and he 
did so here. He comes out and declares that cheap trans- 
portation will save Boston. Thank you, Mr. Crane ! Cheap 
transportation will save Boston. That is precisely the point. 
This fathoms the whole subject. Not annexation, not a 
little piece of Dorchester, nor the whole of it, nor yet of all 
this magic circle of towns about which my brother Train 
talks. Cheap transportation ! That is the point exactly. 
All understand it; and at the other end of the capitol, to- 
night, I doubt not, the walls echo and re-echo with the decla- 
ration that "cheap transportation will save Boston," — for 
that I understand to be the burden of the speech which is to 
be delivered there this evening by Mr. Crane. 

I say, then, to those gentlemen, who want to spend money 
in grand hotel enterprises upon high hills, "'Instead of an- 
nexing the territory of Dorchester in the hope to increase the 
commerce and raise the commercial rank of Boston, spend a 
little money in sending steamboats to the great ports of the 
world ; support those lines against disaster and misadventure, 
until they maintain themselves. Extend the lines of railroad 
from tide water at Boston backward to the lakes, westward 
to the prairies, and southward to the gulf. Bring your 
harbor, bring your city, within cheap and easy communication 
with the great granaries of the world, and you have accom- 
plished that which will make the commerce of Boston equal 
that of 'Liverpool.' When you have done these things, you 
may talk about Boston as * the Liverpool of America.' " 



36 

But they knew that this point was weak, Mr. Chairman 
and gentlemen. It is in the report, and it is out of the re- 
port. It is not quite in, and it is not quite out. It is not 
quite in the testimony, and not quite out. It is in just enough 
to talk about, and not quite enough to swear by. Who is 
there who says that the commerce of Boston is to be bene- 
fited to the extent of a single dollar by this proposition of 
annexation ? Not a soul dares testify to it, and their own 
witness denies it. Mr. Quincy, a man who is heir to love 
and veneration for the city of Boston, the second mayor of 
the Quincy race, a man who knows the history and the 
progress, and the wants of Boston, and represents them as 
well as any man alive, comes in to-day and tells you that 
he cannot see, for his life, wherein this annexation of territory 
can benefit Boston in her commerce, or in any other way. 

I say, then, to our friends, build your steamboats and your 
railroads, and then issue grand hotel circulars, and talk 
about finding a man in the country to pay $120,000 interest 
for a hotel on the top of a bill in Dorchester. 

Another reason which is assigned, and, in my judgment, 
the only real one, is that real estate in Dorchester will rise in 
value by annexation. Kemember, Mr. Chairman and gentle- 
men (for let us consider these things fairly, as they put 
them), remember that annexation is to be sought for the 
purpose of securing cheap land for the middle classes. And 
there it is, — cheap land and beautiful as lies beneath the 
broad sun, that any man can buy who wants to ; and yet our 
friends want to annex it to Boston, in the first place, so as to 
stimulate the price, — all for the good of the middle classes ! 
I do not like to use the phrase " land speculation " in con- 
nection with this matter. I should be very sorry if any per- 
son should imagine that I believe any one of the gentlemen 
who embark in this hotel enterprise, — which I do not moan 
to condemn or make any fun of, except so far as reading' the 
document may be ludicrous, — do so with any view to a land 
speculation. I do not mean to intimate, gentlemen, that 



37 

such a man as Mr. Tileston, than whom there is probably no 
more honorable man in the Commonwealth, would engage 
deliberately in an absolute land speculation, for the purpose 
of putting money into his own pocket. But, gentlemen, 
they want to raise the price of land. They come in here and 
ask you, as members of the Legislature, to grant them an- 
nexation to raise the price of land. What great blessing is 
that to the people of Dorchester? I do not quite see it. I 
understand that not half the people of Dorchester own any 
land at all. The few gentlemen who happen to own the ter- 
ritory of Dorchester are getting a direct advantage of the rise 
of the land, and everybody else a direct disadvantage. The 
laboring man, the man who hires his dwelling-house, makes 
no very great gain by having the taxes and rent raised. 

But suppose it is all so, is this a real estate broker's shop? 
Are we bulls and bears, upon the one side, and upon the 
other bulling the market for real estate, or bearing it? Not 
at all. But whether it be so or not, I apprehend that that 
single consideration will never influence a Legislature acting 
for the good of the whole Commonwealth. It is of no earthly 
consequence, here or there, and no legislator can justify him- 
self in taking that position. 

The water argument cannot be used here, for the President 
of the Water Works declares that the capacity of the works 
will be exhausted in five 3 r cars. And yet, John Preston wants 
a pipe to Commercial Point ! 

I say, that while one portion of the population of Dorches- 
ter would be benefited, another portion would be injured by 
the mere change in the price of land. I say to you further, 
Mr. Chairman, that you can well afford to let the increase of 
Dorchester be governed by the common and ordinary laws 
governing population. It need not be stimulated, it ought 
not to be stimulated, by any act of legislation. I will not 
deny that you may, by your action, inflate the price of land 
in Dorchester ; but this broad earth is yet large enough for all 
its people, and if you bring the tide of population out to the 



38 

lands of Dorchester (and I admit that population is very 
likely to go where real estate is rising in price), the compen- 
sation is to be found somewhere. Boston grows beyond the 
natural law of demand and supply, some other place falls be- 
hind ; or, if it does not actually fall behind, fails to keep up 
in the march of progress. 

I have a few more comments upon these various reasons 
which have been given. A park is wanted, it is said, — a 
park of 800 acres. Our good friend, Mr. Tileston, one of 
the most noble-souled men in all the world, wants to see a 
park down in Mattapan ; and, pointing with his cane, he says, 
"Here is a beautiful place for a park, out in Mattapan. Just 
look at it ! You can buy it cheap ! " Exactly so. But is 
Boston suffering for a park? "Oh, but New York has a 
park; other cities have parks." Boston has a park, which 
is not yet rivalled by any city on this continent. New 
York has a park ; but New York is a city of brick and 
stone from the Battery to the gates of the Central Park. The 
Common and the Public Garden are said to be the lungs of 
Boston. New York has no such lungs. Surrounded as she 
is on three sides by water, the country cannot come down 
to meet her, and she has a park, a beautiful and grand one. 
Nobody can object to it. It is an honor to New York. But 
how is it with Boston? Why, gentlemen, Boston is sur- 
rounded and embraced by a park more beautiful than Central 
Park, ten thousand times over. The grand park which sur- 
rounds and embraces the city of Boston is covered all over 
with the evidences of art and taste, — tine streets, tine ave- 
nues, beautiful residences, grand gardens ; variety, beauty, 
everywhere. This is the grand park, the Central Park of the 
city of Boston. I do not believe that the child is yet born 
who will see Mattapan converted into a park for the city of 
Boston. The same idea is embraced, I see, in the circular 
selling forth the grand hotel scheme : "By aiding in the erec- 
tion of the grand hotel, the citizens of Dorchester will not aid 
themselves, but help to preserve their territory to be made a 



39 

part of Boston, — the Central Park of the metropolis of New 
England." I think, gentlemen, that this park may be left to 
grow something besides flowers at present. Central Park of 
New York, as compared with that of Boston, is like a single 
solitary, beautiful acre, and no more. 

Now, they say the people want it. That is one of the 
last things, I suppose, we shall hear: "The people of Dor- 
chester want annexation." "Well, some of them do, and 
some of them do not; and some who did, now do not. 
That is the fact about it. But it is not a question whether 
the people want it ; it is a question of high state polity ; it is 
a question affecting the whole Commonwealth. You are 
not, therefore, to be led captive by the idea (I know, gentle- 
men, that there is no danger) that the people of Boston, or 
the people of Dorchester, or of the suburbs of Boston, have 
a right to take the destiny of the Commonwealth within their 
own grasp. You have something to say upon that subject. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, I have to submit that these are the 
reasons, and all the reasons, which have been urged, in print or 
by testimony, before this committee, or in this capitol this year, 
upon the subject of annexation. I may not have elaborated 
them, as my friend Train will, but I believe I have touched 
every one of them, as they 'lie embodied in the reports, or as 
they have been stated in the testimony. But are there no objec- 
tions to this grand scheme of annexation? I have adverted to 
the loss that Norfolk county will sutler ; I have adverted to 
the fact that one-third the population and one-half the wealth 
of the Commonwealth will be concentrated under one city 
government. I do not especially represent the people of 
Dorchester here, but I beg leave to call your attention, in a 
very few words, to the change which will take place in their 
relations upon the subject of debt. 



The valuation of Boston last year was §493,573,700 

" " Dorchester last year was 15,320,300 



Total valuation, §508,900,000 



40 

City net debt of Boston, April 1st, 18G9, by auditor's report, $13,824,053 
Debt of Dochester, report of 1869, 36,607 

Aggregate debt of Boston and Dorchester, $13,861,260 

Dorchester's proportion of the aggregate debt, 5 \f3? 9 2 6 of ° °o 

of 13,861,260, is $417,453 

Deduct her present debt, 36,607 

Showing an increase of indebtedness of $380,846 

to be assumed and paid by Dorchester in case of annexa- 
tion. 

But if Mayor Shurtlefl"s estimate that two-thirds of the sum 
appropriated last year for betterments will be returned 
to the treasury, which is undoubtedly too liberal, an 
estimate then of the actual debt of Boston now is $11,780,987 

Add debt of Dorchester as before, 36,607 

Aggregate debt of Boston and Dorchester, $11,817,694 

Dorchester's proportion of the aggregate debt, sVs f a^o fo°o°o 

of 11,817,694, is $355,907 

Deduct present debt of Dorchester, . 36,607 

Showing an increase of indebtedness of $319,300 

to be assumed and paid by Dorchester in case of annexa- 
tion. 

INTEREST. 

The total amount of interest, premium, etc., paid by Boston 
for the financial year, ending April 1, 1868, vide page 11, 
city auditor's report, was $1,277,278 

This includes water-debt interest of $515,245 (vide city aud. 
rep., page 124), but as the Water Works yielded an in- 
come of $551,839 
(vide aud. rep., page 13), and caused an expense 
to the city of $148,462 

(vide aud. rep., page 124), the balance $403,377 

Should be deducted from the total amount, 

leaving $873,901 

There should also be deducted for interest re- 
ceived (vide aud. rep., page 13), two items 
of interest $175,929 

77,626 
$253,555 

Leaving net interest, premium, etc., $620,346 



41 

This is upon an indebtedness of §8,947,530 

(vide city aud. rep., page IS). 

But the present net city debt of Boston is $13,824,053 

(vide aud. rep., of April 1, 1SG9). 

And tlie interest account must be proportion- 
ately increased, making the interest account 
for 18C9, $958,484 

To which add three per cent, of indebtedness re- 
quired to be raised by taxation for sinkiug 
fund (vide city aud. rep., page 246), 414,739 



$1,373,223 



To be raised by taxation this year for interest of 

the old debt of Boston. 
To this add interest on the debt of Dorchester, 

$36,607 at eight per cent., 2,928 



Making an amount of $1,376,151 

To be raised by taxation for interest, etc., on 

the aggregate debt of Boston aud Dorchester. 

The valuation of Boston last year was $493,573,700 

" " Dorchester " 15,326,300 

Aggregate valuation of Boston and Dorchester, $508,900,000 

Dorchester's proportion of this interest will be 

_i 5.326.300 of Si 376 151 S41 444 

5 0S7SGff,CfaO~ ti|Oiu,ui, <3>*j.,*f* 

Deduct interest on Dorchester's debt, 2,928 



Making $38,516 

*To be assumed and paid by Dorchester each year 
upon the old debt of Boston. 

* The auditor's report, to whose pages reference is made, is the report of 1868. The 
report for I860 is not yet published, but the figures of April 1, 1S69, used here, were fur- 
nished by the city auditor. 

It is sometimes claimed that the water debt of Boston will extinguish itself by receipts 
from the water rates, and ought not to be reckoned as a part of the city debt. How far 
this is true, appears from the auditor's report of 1808, as follows : — 

Interest paid on the water debt, $515,245 

Expenses of the Water Board, 148,462 



Total expenditures, 
Receipts from water rates, 

Balance of expenditures over receipts, $111,868 

Showing that the water works are actually increasing the city debt at the rate of over 
$100,000 a year. The'Chestaut Hill Reservoir is not included in this statement. 
6 



42 

I do not see any escape from those figures. I have tried 
to be entirely fair in this matter. If I am wrong, I hope I 
shall be put right. Dorchester is left to raise the beauti- 
ful little sum of $38,516 annually, as her contribution 
towards the payment of interest on the debt of the city of 
Boston. I do not believe this matter has been carefully in- 
vestigated. The people of Dorchester cannot be aware that 
they are to take upon their own shoulders $355,000 of 
indebtedness, for which they must be responsible, and a 
present interest of $38,000 annually, and with a prospect of 
an increase in the future. 

These are some of the objections which may be urged. 
There are many others ; but I say now, — coming to the last 
subject to which I shall have the honor to refer, — that this 
whole scheme is contrary to the public policy of this Com- 
monwealth. I stand here, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, 
and claim, I believe, with very good reason, that 
neither of the petitioners, neither the city of Boston nor the 
town of Dorchester, have made a case upon a single oue of 
the propositions. Gentlemen may say to you, "Oh, well, if 
we have not made out a good case upon any one of the prop- 
ositions, yet upon the whole we may have done so. I was 
taught, early in my study of the law, that when you under- 
take to establish an affirmative proposition by many facts, 
every link in the chain of evidence must be fairly proved ; 
any link not being proved, the conclusion fails. I do not 
understand how you can make a good case out of a num- 
ber of propositions together, each of which has, separately, 
utterly and totally failed. I cannot understand how you 
can make out any case for annexation upon the general, 
broad whole, when every one of the single propositions has 
utterly and totally foiled, and even been abandoned in the 
presence of the committee. Sewerage, harbor improve- 
ments, schools, sidewalks, police, everything has failed, and 
yet you may be asked to come in and say that, upon the whole, 
the annexation scheme has not failed. . 



43 

I undertake now to say that this scheme is contrary to the 
public policy of this Commonwealth. I may be wearying the 
committee, but perhaps they will bear with me while I read 
a few extracts upon this question. I know this is elemen- 
taiy, and you may think it unnecessary that I should spend 
my time and yours in attempting to prove to you that which is 
elementary, a matter of history, and to which every man in the 
Commonwealth will say "Yes ; " but it seems to me that in a 
matter of this consequence I am justified in asking your atten- 
tion to a few general propositions. 

I have shown you that it is proposed to put one-third the 
population and one-half the wealth of the State under the 
control of the city of Boston. My brother Train cannot es- 
cape from this. Although the record says, "the annexation 
of Dorchester," yet he says, and his clients are saying, " not 
Dorchester alone. We must have a magnificent, grand me- 
tropolis, including all the towns in the neighborhood of 
Boston." I argue the whole question. I say, before you take 
the first step upon the journey towards this consolidation of 
wealth and power, you will be recreant to your duty to the 
Commonwealth, unless you determine the question whether 
it is in accordance with the policy of the Commonwealth to 
build up great, overwhelming corporations like this which is 
proposed. Let this scheme be accomplished, and how soon 
will you have the City Hall rivalling in power the State 
Plouse itself? Go on with your schemes of annexation, and 
the City Hall rules Massachusetts. His Excellency the 
Governor sinks into insignificance in the presence of the 
Chief Magistrate of the city. To-day, Mr. Chairman and 
gentlemen, — I wish to impress it upon you, — to-day the dis- 
bursements of the city of Boston, the patronage aud power of 
Boston, by her money, exceed that of the State. The treas- 
ury of the city of Boston wields more patronage and power 
than that of this Commonwealth. If you grant the prayer of 
these petitioners, you are entering upon a course not in har- 
mony with the general spirit of our government. The treas- 



44 

ury of the Commonwealth, gentlemen, with a city like this, 
united in interest, united in power, and all her representatives 
acting together in the Legislature as one solid phalanx, — the 
treasury of the State becomes simplj* the treasury of the city. 
Are you prepared for this? Who will deny the proposition? 
Boston, when she knocks at the door of the Legislature, is 
always heard. I am not one of that class of men who love to 
rail against the power of Boston, and I would not have you 
understand that I would join in that clamor which is some- 
times raised, that Boston rules the State. I do not believe in 
it. Boston has her proper and just influence upon the great 
interests of the Commonwealth. Boston has intelligence, 
and wealth, and public spirit, and a thousand other things 
which fit her for high positions in government ; but Boston 
never, in my judgment, should reach the position where she 
will have it in her power to dictate the policy of the State. 

New York rules the Empire State ; and you propose, here 
in this Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to erect one single 
corporation greater really in strength and power than the 
balance of the State itself; not by the annexation of Dorches- 
ter alone, but by what is to follow. New York is able to 
transfer her Mayor to the Chief Executive Chair, in spite of 
the votes of, and in opposition to, the political sentiment of a 
vast majority of the people of that great State outside of the 
city. Do you want to extend this evil? Mr. Quincy comes 
in here and tells you, that, in his judgment, such great 
municipal corporations are a misfortune, a calamity to the 
State. You, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, must consider 
this question and determine it, before you take this new 
departure upon this road towards consolidation. Now is the 
time to settle it. If you do not settle it now, the day has 
1 assed by, and Massachusetts surrenders herself to Boston. 

You may think me somewhat enthusiastic in this portion 
of my argument. I simply say, that when you consolidate 
so many municipalities ' in one, you make their interests 
identical upon some points. Whenever the interests of Bos- 



45 

ton are in controversy, — her real or imaginary interests, — 
every one of her representatives; coming from any portion 
of her wide territory, will hold up the flag of Boston, and 
will fight under it in the halls of legislation. Now they 
divide, they do not all concentrate together. 

In this connection, permit me to read a few short extracts 
from the first volume of De Tocqueville's " Democracy in 
America," — a work which has become an accredited authority 
on the subject of American institutions : — 

" The American Revolution broke out, and the doctrine of the sov- 
ereignty of the people came out of the townships, and took possession of 
the State. Every class was enlisted in its cause ; battles were fought and 
victories obtained for it; it became the law of laws." — (p. 70.) 

" Town-raeetiugs are to liberty what primary schools are to science; 
they bring it within the people's reach ; they teach men how to use, and 
how to enjoy it. A nation may establish a free government; but without 
municipal institutions, it cannot have the spirit of liberty." — (p. 7G.) 

" The township, taken as a whole, and in relation to the central govern- 
ment, is only an individual, like any other to whom the theory I have 
just described is applicable. Municipal independence in the United States 
is, therefore, a natural consequence of this very principle of the sovereignty 
of the people. All the American republics recognize it more or less ; but 
circumstances have peculiarly favored its growth in New England." — 
(p. SI.) 

"The native of New England is attached to his township, because it is 
independent and free ; his co-operation in its affairs insures his attachment 
to its interest; the well-being it affords him secures his affection; and its 
welfare is the aim of his ambition and of his future exertions. He takes a 
part in every occurrence in the place ; he practises the art of government 
in the small sphere within his reach; he accustoms himself to those forms 
without which liberty can only advance by revolutions ; he imbibes their 
spirit; he acquires a taste for order, comprehends the balance of powers, 
and collects clear, practical notions on the nature of his duties and the ex- 
tent of his rights." — (pp. 85, 86.) 

In the "Galaxy " for the present month, there is an article 
on "The Great Danger of the Republic," from which I read 
the following passage : — 

"Under a representative system, the nearer a representative is to his 
constituents, the more faithfully and honestly will he carry out their 
wishes and guard their interests. In our small States there is much 
creater purity in the administration of affairs than in the large States. 



46 

And experience in respect to official conduct shows, that the further 
power exercised by a public officer is removed from the people, the larger 
the constituencies, and the more remote the objects of legislation from 
the particular attention of the people, the more the sense of individual 
responsibility is lost, and the greater will be the opportunity and tempta- 
tion for misrepresentation, infidelity, and corruption on the part of the 
representative. In small States the public officers perform their duties 
in the very presence and under the immediate eye of their constituents. 
They cannot abuse their trust without immediate exposure and dishonor. 
This is the chief cause of the success of the Swiss republic. And, in this 
particular, our government is like that of Switzerland, except that it has 
its foundations in the towns, a smaller political division of the country, 
and a most invaluable nursery of republicanism. The cantons of Switz- 
erland correspond with our counties, and these are composed of the 
towns, each of which possesses considerable power of self-government in 
its domestic affairs. Our counties, also, exercise a large degree of local 
legislation and control in respecUto matters of internal administration, 
and these couuties compose the States. The strength of our system lies in 
this distribution of powers. The small local republics of our towns and 
municipalities educate our people in the principles and practice of self- 
government, and thus preserve among them, pure and fresh, the spirit of 
freedom and republicanism." 

I also read the following extracts from the debates in the 
Constitutional Convention of 1853 : — 

" I would guard, with jealous care, the independence of these local 
assemblies, the town meetings, which are the fairest growth of liberty, 
and in which the best security for its protection is to be found. 

" These local, separate, and independent assemblies through which the 
life-blood of the national heart flows and circulates, in which matters are 
discussed important enough to awaken interest, but not important enough 
to awaken ambition, are the fountains from which our political prosperity 
has flowed. May they ever remain as pure as they have hitherto been. 
What is the primal excellence of this Commonwealth that we so honor 
and love ? It is, that it is an aggregate, and not an interfusion, of these local 
communities. The several towns that make up this Commonwealth do 
not, like drops of water, part with their own identity to swell the general 
stream, but they rather blend like flowers in a garland, or stars in a con- 
stellation, each retaining its own light and its own beauty, but each con- 
tributing to the light and beauty of the whole." 

IIox. George S. Hillard. 

" I venture to assert that the government of cities is shown from the 
history of the world, to have been universally bad; but history furnishes 
no instance in which a government vested in the country, has ever been 
exercised for the oppression of the city. Never." 

Hon. George S. Boutwell. 



47 

Turn where you will, among the authors who have written 
upon this subject, and you will lind the same principles ex- 
pressed. Here is a document which I found, printed, among 
the papers connected with the annexation of Eoxbury. It is 
a remonstrance by George Morey and thirty-two others, 
among whom are the late Josiah Quincy, Sr., and John A. 
Andrew, in which they protest against the doctrine of consoli- 
dation, and in which the Hon. Josiah Quincy, Sr., denounces 
this whole subject as an abomination in his eyes. 

Having gone over the ground to show you, as I think I 
have, that the case is not sustained on the part of the petition- 
ers ; that the various reasons given by them are not such as 
ought to move you to grant their prayer ; and having spoken 
as fully as I think I ought, under all the circumstances, of 
the true policy of the Commonwealth in this respect, — I come 
now to the only remaining topic to which I think it necessary 
to advert. I ask you if there is not some other way to an- 
swer all the demands of the city of Boston ? I am not here 
with any particular theory of my own, and I am not entitled 
to take any credit to myself for having any theory at all upon 
this subject, for the matter has been brought to my attention 
by discussion with my associates here, and with other gentle- 
men ; and I am led to put the question to you, whether 
there is not another way to meet the fancied wants of the 
city of Boston. 

If, Mr." Chairman, there are any wants connected with the 
subject of sewerage ; if any of the towns which drain them- 
selves into the Charles or the Mystic, or into the Bay of 
Boston or Dorchester, ought to be under one jurisdiction for 
streets, for public highways, for sewerage, — I do not see that 
we are at a loss to know how to accomplish that end. What is 
a county ? A county extends over a large number of munici- 
palities for certain definite and fixed purposes, and the busi- 
ness of the county is committed to the hands of a tribunal 
called County Commissioners. The city of Boston has its 
Street Commissioners and its Harbor Commissioners, — the 



48 

latter, I believe, acting under the jurisdiction of the State. 
Take the towns. The Selectmen take charge of the govern- 
ment of the town, and expend a certain amount of mone} r in 
a certain direction.. They have a certain jurisdiction, the 
Overseers of the Poor another, the Surveyor of Highways 
another, the Treasurer another, and so on through the whole 
list. All the authority in a town is divided, and there is no 
one responsible head, except that from which it springs, — 
the people. 

Now, sir, suppose you should erect a quasi county here, 
and should elect a board of commissioners, a portion of them 
to go out of office yearly ; electing them for a period of time 
sufficiently long for them to have a plan and maintain it ; 
electing them by districts, and giving into the hands of that 
central board the power to go out and provide streets and 
drainage for all this county, and have the direction of 
rivers and harbors throughout this great municipal district, — 
will you have anything that has not been heard of before, 
in this country? Will you have advanced a single step 
upon any new invention? I think if there is ever to be any 
consolidation of this immense territory under one govern- 
ment, it must not be one government for all purposes, but a 
government for those matters only which can only be an- 
swered by a union of the territory. If you desire to take 
from the county of Norfolk for these purposes every inch of 
her territory, there is nobody here to object. If you want 
to put Middlesex and Norfolk and Suffolk together, who can 
find a word of fault? Give this district as many broad ave- 
nues as she can pay for. Give to Boston and to the suburbs 
all the advantage of drainage which they can possibly get. 
By the union, put these subjects under one power. 

I think, Mr. Chairman, this is a plain proposition, and one 
that can be appreciated by every citizen of Massachusetts. 
We see it in operation every day. I have broached this sub- 
ject to some of our annexation friends ; but I have generally 
found them to be wedded to their annexation scheme, and 



49 

they thought I had got off into the region of wild imagina- 
tion, — that the thing was too complicated. If it is more 
complicated than the present management at City Hall, I beg 
to know how. Give to this Central Board, elected by the peo- 
ple, perfect control over as large a metropolis as you please. 
Extend Boston as London has been extended. Let Boston 
be known, at home and abroad, if you please, as a city of a 
million inhabitants, and a hundred miles in area. Save us 
simply those rights which are in harmony with the old and 
well-settled policy of this Commonwealth, — the distinctive 
characteristic and feature of the Commonwealth. Give us 
those things, we will take care of our paupers, we will pro- 
vide all our local charities, we will put our streets in perfect 
order and condition, we will take care of our schools, for Dor- 
chester can take care of her schools as well as Boston can take 
care of them for her. Leave us in the enjoyment of that in- 
dividuality and identity which belong to us, and you may 
take all those powers which simply relate to streets, drains, 
and those things which are for the universal public advan- 
tage. Take them all, and we shall be harmed not at all. 

Here is a map of the city of London and its suburbs. The 
city of London proper covers but a very small space on this 
map ; but, so far as the streets and sewers are concerned, all 
this territory is managed by a Board of Public Works, elected 
by the several municipalities. My partner has handed to the 
committee the law passed in 1855, making this provision. Now, 
I ask, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, not that you adopt any 
scheme of mine, not that you step a single step in the waj*- of 
reporting it ; but I ask you, before you begin the process of 
consolidation by annexing Dorchester to Boston, and commit 
the Commonwealth to this daring scheme, to pause and see 
Avhether or not you cannot safely say to the Legislature at this 
session, that the subject of annexation has now assumed such 
magnitude that you feel it to be a duty to recommend the 
appointment of a wise and learned Commission to take this 
Avhole subject into consideration, to sit during the next recess 



50 

of the Legislature, and mature a plan which in their judgment 
will meet the wants of this community, preserving, so for as 
they can, the separate municipalities, and report a measure to 
the next Legislature. If that action is not satisfactory, and 
cannot be made so, we shall have the advantage of an investi- 
gation which is not partisan in its character ; an investigation 
which will be deliberate, cool, and careful ; a Commission ap- 
pointed to act for the interest of the State as well as for the 
interests of the people of Dorchester or Boston. 

I submit, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, whether it would 
not be quite as wise, when we are embarking upon a new 
and great enterprise, to give the people of the Common- 
wealth time to consider whether this, the first step, shall be 
taken. Take the first step, and it can never be recalled. 
If it is a wise step, a proper measure, and there are reasons 
for it which satisfy your minds, or can satisfy the minds of a 
wise Legislature, any objections must give way. But I 
believe, and I think, gentlemen, you must in some respects 
sympathize with me in that belief, that, as we stand to-day, 
the friends of annexation have failed utterly to prove that 
necessity or that great public emergency which can justify 
the commencement of a process by which a corporation is to 
be erected which shall control forever after the policy of the 
State. Carry out this policy, and New Bedford may take 
the towns around her ; Taunton may step in and say, " I 
want to be a great city, and I will take everything there 
is here;" then will come Springfield, and say she is in 
the western part of the State, and she will take within her 
limits all there is up to the New York line ; and Worcester 
will come in and say, she is the heart of the Commonwealth, 
and she will take the balance. Begin here, and you may as 
well partition out the old State between the cities ; let them 
erect their independent governments and manage the thing 
as a confederacy of independent cities. Begin the process 
here, and Worcester and Springfield may, with the same pro- 



51 

priety, ask an extension of their borders for the very same 
reasons that have been given here. 

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I owe you an apology for 
having trespassed so long upon your time. I did not intend 
to occupy so much of it. I can only excuse myself by say- 
ing that I have felt it my duty to touch upon the various 
topics which have fallen under observation. I thank you 
very heartily for having given me so patient an audience. 



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